Thursday, July 5, 2018

Washington National Cathedral

We visited the The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington. That's a mouthful, right? It's more commonly known as the Washington National Cathedral. Congress designated Washington National Cathedral as the "National House of Prayer". Every since, the cathedral has hosted major events, both religious and secular, that have drawn the attention of the American people, as well as tourists from around the world.

The Cathedral's design is a mix of influences from the various Gothic architectural styles of the Middle Ages, identifiable in its pointed arches, flying buttresses, a variety of ceiling vaulting, stained-glass windows and carved decorations in stone, and by its three similar towers, two on the west front and one surmounting the crossing. Most of the building is constructed using a buff-colored Indiana limestone over a traditional masonry core. Structural, load-bearing steel is limited to the roof's trusses (traditionally built of timber); concrete is used significantly in the support structures for bells of the central tower, and the floors in the west towers. Numerous grotesques and gargoyles adorn the exterior, most of them designed by the various carvers who contributed them. There were two competitions held for the public to provide designs for gargoyles to supplement those contributed by the carvers. The second of these produced the famous Darth Vader Grotesque which is high on the northwest tower, sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter and carved by Patrick J. Plunkett.

Several notable American citizens are buried in Washington National Cathedral and its columbarium:

I Heard That Helen Keller Was Buried Here. She Didn't.I Can't See Why She's Buried Here. Neither Can She.

Larz Anderson, businessman, diplomat

Thomas John Claggett, first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

William Forman Creighton, fifth Bishop of Washington

Joseph Edward Davies (ashes), diplomat, presidential adviser. He gave a stained-glass window in the Cathedral in honor of his mother, Rachel Davies (Rahel o Fôn)

George Dewey, United States Navy admiral

Angus Dun (ashes), fourth Bishop of Washington

Philip Frohman (ashes), cathedral architect, following the death of Bodley

George A. Garrett, diplomat, first United States Ambassador to Ireland

Thomas C. Wasson, diplomat and Consul General for the United States in Jerusalem

Isabel Weld Perkins, author, wife of Larz Anderson

Edith Wilson, second wife of Woodrow Wilson and First Lady of the United States

Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States. Wilson's tomb includes variants on the Seal of the President of the United States and the coat of arms of Princeton University. Wilson is the only American president buried in the District of Columbia.